What Venom 2’s Ending Means For Morbius & Kraven

Caution: spoilers ahead for Venom: Let There Be Carnage

Venom: Let There Be Carnage confirms Tom Hardy’s symbiote doesn’t originate from the MCU – what does this mean for Sony’s approaching duo of Morbius and Kraven? The current relationship between Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures is a web more tangled than anything Peter Parker’s wrists could hope to produce. Releasing The Amazing Spider-Man 2 in 2014, Sony hoped Andrew Garfield’s sequel would spearhead a Sinister Six crossover and a shared superhero universe of Spider-Man characters. Alas, Sony-Spidey ran out of webbing, leaving a partnership with Marvel the best available option. Tom Holland was cast as the MCU’s Peter Parker, and became an immediate hit.

The already delicate Marvel-Sony partnership boiled over in the summer of 2019, when Spider-Man was temporarily removed from the MCU after both studios failed to agree terms. Fan backlash and a boozy Tom Holland rectified the matter, and subsequent reports claimed Sony had negotiated access to the Marvel Cinematic Universe for their side of the bargain. Venom: Let There Be Carnage marks Sony’s first opportunity to take advantage of that supposed MCU connection, and sure enough, the post-credits sequence sees Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock weirdly transported to the MCU, where J. Jonah Jameson is lambasting Tom Holland’s Peter Parker on TV.

We have a…er, few questions about that. How do Brock and Venom move through the multiverse? Is this the MCU as we know it, or an offshoot? Can Eddie get back home? One thing we do know is that Venom and Venom: Let There Be Carnage did not take place within MCU continuity. Before Andy Serkis gave us that reality-breaking post-credits scene, it was feasible that Sony’s Venom story could’ve been happening in some quiet corner of the MCU. Now, however, Sony’s Spider-Man Universe is confirmed to exist as part of the Marvel movie multiverse only. What does this mean for Sony’s Morbius and Kraven movies?

Morbius & Kraven COULD Take Place Within The MCU

Venom: Let There Be Carnage reveals that Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock doesn’t hail from the MCU, meaning Sony’s Spider-Man Universe sits separately from the world of Hulk, Doctor Strange, the Guardians of the Galaxy, etc. Since he too falls under Sony’s umbrella, one might assume Jared Leto’s Morbius is another resident of Venom’s universe. Delayed from its initial release date of July 2020, Morbius wrapped filming before Sony and Marvel renegotiated joint-custody of Tom Holland and before any suggestion of one franchise bleeding into another. It’s logical, therefore, that Morbius was conceived, written and filmed as an extension of the world seen in both Venom and (the first 96 minutes of)Venom: Let There Be Carnage.

But there’s a Michael Keaton-shaped fly in the ointment. Morbius conducted reshoots after Sony and Marvel reshaped the landscape of their respective superhero universes, and when the first trailer landed in January 2020, Jared Leto’s Michael Morbius encountered Keaton’s Adrian Toomes – Vulture from Spider-Man: Homecoming. Additionally, Morbius walks past a graffiti image of Spider-Man labelled a “murderer,” which could reference the ending of Spider-Man: Far From Home, where J. Jonah Jameson frames Spidey for the Mysterio incident. These clues suggest that while Eddie Brock swapped Sony’s universe for the MCU, Morbius could be within Marvel’s realm already.

Nothing in the Morbius trailer directly ties Jared Leto’s vampiric villain to the VenomVerse, and since Morbius acts as an origin movie, his arrival in the MCU wouldn’t raise pesky questions like “where was Morbius during Iron Man 2?” or “why didn’t Morbius help fight Thanos?” The Venom: Let There Be Carnage post-credits also proves that, in some capacity, Marvel is now letting Sony play in its sandbox. The original intention might’ve been for Morbius to share Venom‘s world, but the consequences of Holland-gate might’ve pushed Leto toward the MCU instead.

Pinning Kraven the Hunter down to one world or another is much trickier, given that filming hasn’t even started. Aaron Taylor-Johnson will play the villain in an adaptation of Marvel’s Kraven’s Last Hunt comic story, but we’ve no details beyond that. Given that Kraven’s Last Hunt connection, Sony surely has no choice but to set the movie wherever Spider-Man is based. Assuming Tom Holland remains part of the MCU come 2023, there’s a strong possibility Kraven will also be an MCU-based movie, just as Morbius seems to be.

Will Morbius & Kraven Exist In Tobey Maguire’s Universe?

In the Morbius trailer’s aforementioned Spider-Man graffiti scene, the web-slinger depicted is clearly Tobey Maguire’s version. Assuming our street artist isn’t a multiverse-hopping Kang getting his Spider-Man costumes muddled, this Easter egg might place Morbius within Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man world, over a decade since audiences last visited in 2007’s Spider-Man 3.

A Maguire-Morbius connection would have fascinating implications for Michael Keaton’s Adrian Toomes. As demonstrated by Loki, some characters look identical to their multiverse counterparts, and Toomes also says nothing in Morbius‘ trailer to prove he’s the same MCU villain fans know and love. Since Toomes was supposed to appear in Raimi’s cancelled Spider-Man 4, Morbius‘ Vulture could be a parallel who faced off against Maguire some time after Spider-Man 3, instead of the father-in-law from hell Tom Holland fought in Spider-Man: Homecoming.

Spider-Man: No Way Home provides an alternative explanation. Tom Holland’s third Spidey solo venture brings Raimi characters such as Alfred Molina’s Doc Ock and Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin to the MCU. It’s only natural some folks might’ve traveled in the opposite direction, meaning Michael Keaton’s MCU Vulture turns up in Tobey Maguire’s universe, where he encounters Morbius and starts recruiting Spider-Man villains from across the multiverse.

Kraven the Hunter benefits from a Raimi universe setting even more than Michael Morbius. Kraven’s Last Hunt is a story that can’t be told without Spider-Man’s presence, but begins with the villain already a long-established rival of Marvel’s friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. As such, Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s Kraven hunting Tom Holland’s relatively inexperienced Spider-Man makes little sense. If Kraven were set in Sam Raimi’s continuity, Taylor-Johnson could face off against Tobey Maguire’s veteran Spidey instead – a more natural fit for the source material.

All of these fascinating possibilities are only on the table because Sony’s Venom movies aren’t directly attached to the MCU. The Venom: Let There Be Carnage post-credits sequence means Sony characters past and present can hop between their own worlds and Marvel’s as needed.

How Morbius & Kraven Could Travel The Multiverse Like Eddie

Quite how Eddie Brock and Venom teleport from their Sony-sponsored hotel room to the much plusher surrounds of the MCU (an on-screen metaphor if ever we saw one) is currently unclear. Somewhat clearer is that Morbius and Kraven will need to follow Venom’s example sooner or later, whether leaving their own worlds to join Tom Hardy in the MCU and form the Sinister Six, or to depart the MCU whenever Sony and Marvel’s current arrangement inevitably reaches its conclusion. But how can two characters without multiverse powers traverse the multiverse when their time comes?

Spider-Man: No Way Home offers one possible route. Due to the spectacularly irresponsible partnership of Doctor Strange and Peter Parker, a hole in the multiverse allows characters to move from Sony’s Sam Raimi and Marc Webb Spider-Man franchises into the MCU. The post-credits of Venom: Let There Be Carnage might actually show Strange’s spell in action, plucking Eddie Brock from one universe into another. Morbius and Kraven will both release after Spider-Man: No Way Home, but it’s possible that, even if Strange & Spider-Man clean up their multiverse mess, one gateway will remain open in secret – perhaps thanks to a villain who sees value in having a door between worlds at their fingertips (à la Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse). This would allow Morbius and Kraven the Hunter to debut in Sony’s world, then follow Venom into the MCU ahead of an inevitable crossover, or vice versa.

Sony’s Long-Term Plan Isn’t The MCU

Separating the Venom universe from the MCU is a shrewd move on Sony’s part, and might offer some insight into the studio’s long-term superhero plans. While Tom Hardy ends Venom: Let There Be Carnage in the MCU, he also has a home universe to return to – somewhere Sony holds full control over and doesn’t need to share nicely with Marvel. This suggests joining the MCU is only a short-term phase in Sony’s wider plan and that, eventually, the likes of Venom, Morbius and Kraven will exist in isolation from Marvel’s finest.

With The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Sony’s plans for Sinister Six got off to a rocky start, and crossover potential very quickly dwindled. Meanwhile, the MCU was going great guns after 2012’s huge The Avengers success. By parachuting Tom Hardy’s Venom (potentially alongside Jared Leto’s Morbius, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s Kraven the Hunter) into the MCU, Sony likely hopes to benefit from Marvel’s popularity – but only as a springboard. Ensuring Venom has a sandbox of his own means that whenever the Marvel partnership comes to an end, Sony can carry on producing superhero movies. Pushing ahead with the “Sony’s Spider-Man Universe” branding all but confirms this.

Morbius and Kraven could both appear in the MCU, either as natural inhabitants or multiverse visitors. But in the longer-term with sequels and crossovers in the years to come, Sony seems to hope these characters can exist without Marvel’s crutch, and that by the time Morbius 3 and Kraven’s No Seriously This Is My Last Hunt roll around, any connection to the MCU would’ve long expired. This could explain why Venom: Let There Be Carnage‘s post-credits sequence deliberately separates one franchise’s fictional universe from the other.